How Aaron Rubashkin Does Business – Duct Tape To The Eyes, Meat Hook To The Head

The Cedar Rapids Gazette has excerpted parts of the search warrants used in yesterday's massive raid on Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa, the largest kosher slaughterhouse in the world.

Is your glatt kosher meat worth this?

Link:

…— Source #7, a legal Hispanic immigrant, was paid by ICE to look for a job at the plant early this year while pretending to be an illegal immigrant. All of the source's conversations with human resources staff, supervisors and other employees were recorded during the employment process. The first time the source was told that the Social Security number ICE provided for him or her to use did not match his or her name. The next week, the source was provided a different Social Security number to use with the same name and was hired. Source #7 discovered other employees were being paid in cash or with different colored checks than the ones he or she received, possibly by an elementary school worker in Postville identified as the point of contact on letters to Agriprocessors employees noting "misunderstandings" with the employees' Social Security numbers. The source's rent also kept being increased by his or her landlord, and was told by other Hispanics that happened to other workers, as well.

In February, Source #7 told ICE agents he or she observed a Jewish floor supervisor duct-tape the eyes of an undocumented Guatemalan worker shut and hit the Guatemalan with a meat hook, apparently not causing serious injuries. The Guatemalan did not want to report the incident because "it would not do any good and could jeopardize his job." The company fired illegal immigrants on occasion with no explanation.

— On May 4, 2006, sources #8, #9 and #10 were arrested in connection with an investigation of the production of a potential explosive device found in a vehicle registered to a resident of Postville. The materials likely came from the Agriprocessors mechanical shop. Two sources had obtained employment there with fraudulent documents they had purchased, and all were illegal immigrants.

— An Iowa Department of Transportation investigator learned from talking with Des Moines County Treasurer's Office personnel that Source #14 was involved in making applications to title and register cars on behalf of people living in Postville. The source said that, more than 200 times, he or she received application information and money and had the registrations and titles sent to various Burlington/West Burlington addresses. Source #14 then arranged to pick up the documents and sent them to the vehicle owners in Postville.

Other facts found in the search warrant:

— Agriprocessors was notified of more than 1,000 discrepancies between names and Social Security numbers on workers' W-2 forms sent to the IRS between 2002 and 2005.

— In 2005, the Iowa DOT audited a Cedar Rapids car dealership that was selling a number of vehicles to an Agriprocessors supervisor. The manager of the unnamed dealership said the supervisor was a "personal friend of theirs," and that they supplied a large volume of cars to the supervisor for resale to people in the Postville area. That year, more than 50 vehicles were sold in that manner. Sales to Postville residents appeared to represent about 90 percent of the dealership's business. The sales violated Iowa law, which requires all dealers to be licensed.

Employees said that supervisor coerced them and others into to buy vehicles from him or they would be fired or not promoted.

Of course, none of this is the OU's responsibility. Ditto for United Mehadrin Kosher (Rabbi Zeilingold), Supreme Kosher (Rabbi Wiessmandal), KAJ (who was at Agriprocessors during most of the time covered by the warrants), the Crown Heights Beis Din (Chabad-Lubavitch), or the other rrabbis who lend their names and imprimaturs to Rubashkin.

Why?

Because Orthodox rabbis only supervise the kosher status of the food. Any other Jewish laws violated in that food's production are left up to the government or others to enforce. (This is a paraphrase of a statement made by the OU's Rabbi Menachem Genack last year.)

Stop eating meat. Read ingredient labels. Buy whatever you want, hechsher or not.

Rabbis took Rubashkin's money and looked the other way.

It is time for us to turn away from all of them.

Comments

[anonymous]

the best website for halakah is kashrut.org. Free yourself from the profiteers!
Have meat or chicken only on Shabbos.

[rebitzman]

++Because Orthodox rabbis only supervise the kosher status of the food. ++

Actually - the Conservative Movement has what they are calling a Heksher Tzedik that goes beyond basic kashrus (because who would actually eat meat with a Conservative heksher?)and focuses on how animals are treated - how workers are treated - the impact on the environment.........

It has apparently been a slow go for this group to date - suspect this might give it something of a boost.

Heck - I might even start looking for it.

[I know!]

That’s said you turn your own words in to something agents others. Source # 7 If you indeed read the warrant was a former supervisor not an informant to ICE. How many other things did you turn around for your own benefit on this post to get the attention you think you need? And the different colored checks you are referring to is the way that they pay there people that work after sundown on the start of the Sabbath, they (Jewish employees and owners) are not allowed to work after sundown on Friday and there employees that do are compensated this way so they do not get ripped off from there pay.

[yidandahalf]

As long as the rabbis are involved in anything there will be corruption and profiteering . Ka$rus today is indeed the cash cow and needs to be redesigned or even done away with. Is has no meaning anymore beyond parna$$a. It corrupts anyone it touches to some degree. Anyone who thinks otherwise is either on the take themselves or so brainwashed as to be an invalid. Get rid of the crows and their businesses. Jews, stand up and think for yourselves. WE NO LONGER NEED THE CROW/RABBIS.

[Shmarya]

That’s said you turn your own words in to something agents others. Source # 7 If you indeed read the warrant was a former supervisor not an informant to ICE. How many other things did you turn around for your own benefit on this post to get the attention you think you need?

Not familiar with blockquotes, eh?

Try to process – the Gazette says source #7 was a paid informant sent in by ICE.

From the way you write (and read) , I think its highly likely you've never seen those warrants.

Wait, I think there are still three or four self-hating Jews who have not yet crawled out from under their rocks to blame the rabbis and all Jews for crimes that the government claims were committed.

Those who are clling for an end the observance of kashrus because of this raid already had an agenda to Torah and Mitzvos. That is is their solution that has been waiting for a problem to solve.

The real solution to the problem (if there is one) of crooked people running the kosher meat business is for more people to eat strictly kosher. If all jews in America kept kosher there would be more incentive for more people to enter the business and we would not be beholden to any one company for 60% or the meat and 40% of the chicken in the glatt kosher market.

[Shmarya]

The real solution to the problem (if there is one) of crooked people running the kosher meat business is for more people to eat strictly kosher. If all jews in America kept kosher there would be more incentive for more people to enter the business and we would not be beholden to any one company for 60% or the meat and 40% of the chicken in the glatt kosher market.

When more people kept kosher there was more fraud, and the business was at one point Mob-controlled.

The solution is locally produced humanely raised and shechted meat supervised by a nonprofit board with proper third party verification.

Or, easier, better and much more likely to happen – stop eating meat and keep kosher by reading ingredient labels. (Go to Rabbi Abadi's site for instruction, if you need it.)

Why would any sane and healthy person want to stop eating meat???

[Shmarya]

Because, perhaps, he could be upset by factory farming, poorly done slaughter, and rabbinic corruption. He might prefer to limit or completely stop consuming meat as a result.

Of course, most sane and rational people understand this without help from me, even if they won't act this way themselves.

This is especially true for Jews who take religious mandates seriously.

You, however, are not one of those people.

[formely frum]

to I Know "And the different colored checks you are referring to is the way that they pay there people that work after sundown on the start of the Sabbath, they (Jewish employees and owners) are not allowed to work after sundown on Friday and there employees that do are compensated this way so they do not get ripped off from there pay."

First no one should be working after sundown Jews and Non Jews as far as I know if it is a Jwish owned businesses

And why the different colored checks does not make sense at all

Factory farming will start bothering me when someone proves to me that the animals suffer by it. Poorly done slaughter (if it occurs) is the headache of the person getting paid to make sure it is done correctly. I have not seen any credible claims of rabbinic corruption.

There is no religious mandate requiring me to eat only products made from animals who were provided with three hot meals a day and a warm place to sleep, Atari entertainmant systems and personal trainers.

G-d made me, G-d made them and G-d said I can eat them so long as they are slaughtered correctly. If you want to start inventing new rules in Halachah I'll do the same: I refuse to eat vegetables that were not put properly anesthetized by trained medical personnel before they
were brutally harvested.

[Shmarya]

G-d made me, G-d made them and G-d said I can eat them so long as they are slaughtered correctly. If you want to start inventing new rules in Halachah…

Really? Rocket scientist and theologian, you are – not.

You might recall that Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ruled caged veal not kosher. He did the same with non-union harvested grapes.

What's wrong with Orthodox Judaism?

People like you.

Gee, thanks.

I've never before been accused of ruining a whole religion. My bad influence usually does not extend beyond the end of my home town.

For you to quote Reb Moshe a"h is like Chabad quoting the Pope (lehavdil) to prove their moshiach-wannabe was the real one.

You don't even believe in the Torah ma'aseh beraishis but you will find some twisted logic to claim G-d doesn't want us to perform shechitah k'halachah.

I don't know what the Cult of the Rebbe did to twist your knickers into such a ticht knot but get over it. Torah is here to stay and twisting it to conform to outside 'standards of morality' has never worked. Just ask Mike Lerner how many spaced-out drugged-up loser followers he has ever managed to find at one time.

Anyway, I've got to get back to the productive side of life for a while. There is only so much of my day I can allow myself for entertainment, no matter how comical it gets.

[yidandahalf]

"G-d said" - you don't know anymore than I do what "G-d said".

Then learn a little Torah and you'll know as much as I do about what G-d said.

[Shmarya]

For you to quote Reb Moshe a"h is like Chabad quoting the Pope (lehavdil) to prove their moshiach-wannabe was the real one.

You don't even believe in the Torah ma'aseh beraishis but you will find some twisted logic to claim G-d doesn't want us to perform shechitah k'halachah.

Disingenuous crap.

You don't have even the slightest idea of what "k'halakha" is.

Process this: Y-O-U need to care about what Rav Moshe ruled.

You don't like the messenger? Tough luck.

Shmarya- Lets see the link to the affidavit and/or search warrant

[R]

To no name. Why are you anonymous?
And i thought you had gone to do important things with your life as you like to prove that you don't waste your time on blogs and apparently really have a job....so why are you still writing????

[Matt]

Outside "standards of morality"?

Like Deut 24:14-15?

I'm back. had to get a day's work done. Worst three hours of my life. ;-)

A: as for following Reb Moshe - I have to be concerned to the point of asking my rav halachah l'ma'aseh. if anyone tried to follow the shitot of every printed Sh'ailot U'Teshuvot in print he'd lose his mind very quickly.

B: Quote all the pesukim you'd like - It is all part of an anti traditional-Orthodoxy agenda. I have no problem with people who have such an agenda if they are forthright enough to admit it, just as I have little problem with kool-aid drinking messianic lubavitchers who wear it on their sleeves. Or kipah, as seems to be the style. It is the BS artists who dance around with the evasive answers when asked if the rebbe is alive or dead and moshiach or not moshiach that p*** me off.
Making the PETA agenda part of Torah is much like making the Rebbe melech hamoshiach - You can buy all the good PR you want and make up pretty slogans and bring together large crowds to trumpet your position but it don't change a thing. Claim it is a higher calling then Torah, gezunterheit. Just don't call it Torah 'cause it ain't.

[Gershom]

Regarding the question of whether factory farming causes the animals to suffer, only a person with no rachmones (not to mention no contact with animals) could posibly claim it does not. I have SEEN these places. These are not the flocks of our ancestors. These places cram animals together under horrible conditions that are NOTHING like the Torah or stetl stories we read to our children. I stopped eating meat years ago because of this cruelty. And no, I'm not self-hating or secular. I happen to be Orthodox. But I no longer trust the OU or any other kasrut org to honestly supervise things becaue they are too willing to look the other way.

[Shmarya]

Making the PETA agenda part of Torah is much like making the Rebbe melech hamoshiach - You can buy all the good PR you want and make up pretty slogans and bring together large crowds to trumpet your position but it don't change a thing. Claim it is a higher calling then Torah, gezunterheit. Just don't call it Torah 'cause it ain't.

Let me help you with your analogy.

Orthodox Jews believe in the concept of the messiah, that one day moshiach will come. It is a foundational principle of Judaism and part of its legal corpus.

In the same way, Judaism believes in treating employees and contract or day workers with respect. It protects these workers rights. This, too, is part of the corpus of Jewish law.

And, of course, the same holds true with not causing suffering to animals. This is part of the corpus of Jewish law, as well.

Making the dead Rebbe the "King Messiah" is very different from believing in and awaiting the coming of moshiach.

Keeping the Torah's laws forbidding animal cruelty and worker oppression is just as much a part of Judaism as keeping kosher or keeping Shabbat.

Adopting the entire PETA agenda is not the same thing as calling for enforcement of Jewish animal cruelty law.

But, just as you would not say that believing in and waiting for moshiach is irrelevant to you, you also should not say tza'ar ba'alei hayyim (animal cruelty law) is irrelevant to you. And the same certainly holds true for Jewish law's mandates for workers' rights.

Someone who writes, as you have:

There is no religious mandate requiring me to eat only products made from animals who were provided with three hot meals a day and a warm place to sleep, Atari entertainmant systems and personal trainers.

G-d made me, G-d made them and G-d said I can eat them so long as they are slaughtered correctly. If you want to start inventing new rules in Halachah I'll do the same: I refuse to eat vegetables that were not put properly anesthetized by trained medical personnel before they
were brutally harvested.

and who disregards the suffering of workers and of animals, is not acting in a Jewish manner.

You may recall that Yehuda HaNasi suffered many years for saying exactly what you said. Go learn.

[Amused]

Looks like nothing new here. Just Shmarya venting and twisting to make the animal rights program look like halakha perpefted. Total nonesense.

It all sounds to me like 'somebody' wanted a job and the Rubashkins weren't willing to pay what he thought he was worth or didn't offer him a job at all.

Whatever it is that is driving Shmarya truth, justice and the American way have nothing to do with it. If this were not a part of a personal war between Shmarya and the Rubashkins and between Shmarya and all of the Lunibovitchers not to mention between Shmarya and himself he would be able to stick to the facts and sound like a normal person engaged in a normal debate.

He is so wrapped up in his Rubashkin hatred (they might be scum of the earth or the salt of the earth, I have no idea) he could probably do some good with his blog.

Oh well, dinner with the little ones awaits me. The tender flesh of a recently slaughtered animal, hopefully.

Know I remember why I gave up on religion to begin with. Too many nuts like Shmarya hanging around making whatever they want the good lord to want from us into the lord's own divine will.

[Shmarya]

Oh well, dinner with the little ones awaits me. The tender flesh of a recently slaughtered animal, hopefully.

Know I remember why I gave up on religion to begin with. Too many nuts like Shmarya hanging around making whatever they want the good lord to want from us into the lord's own divine will.

You make absolutely no sense.

From a religious point of view, God gave us animals both to properly care for and to eat. We must treat animals humanely.

Is factory farming kosher?

That is a very real halakhic question. Even the rabbis who say it is unequivocally kosher do not say that animal suffering caused by factory farming is okay. What they say is that suffering should be reduced as much as possible.

The idea that animals were made by God for us to eat and we can do whatever we want to them suffering be damned is simply not Jewish.

Even Sholom Rubashkin agrees with this.